Chapters:

"Why haven't they asked me for my part of the story?" Impatience
colored my voice. I scanned the room for the other boy who had
been thrown in the box with me, but I couldn't find him. The
blazing police lights and shrieks of sirens started to make my
head hurt.

The police women sitting next to me held my hand. "It's alright,
sweetie. We don't want to make you remember about that scary old
man who kidnapped you. Now go to sleep, I'm sure your mom will be
here to get you when you wake up." She said in a soft voice.

But I knew better. Mommy wouldn't come, no one would. Image of
her lifeless body falling to the floor was still fresh in my
memory. I glanced at the police lady. I sometimes wondered if all
of the cops were trained to talk with patience and false
reassurance, they made it seem as if there was a solution to
everything. And this lady was no exception; she sugar coated the
most horrifying news and made it seem as unimportant as a cake
without sprinkles.

"She won't come." I whispered to her in my tiny voice. I hadn't
told this to anyone of the other police men who had tried to talk
to me, but I could at least trust this one. I at least saw some
kind of real emotion in her eyes, instead of the usual cold
glassy eyed stare I saw in all the other's eyes.

The police lady pulled me closer. "Why do you say that, Arissa?"
She said with genuine compassion.

I swallowed around the big lump inside my throat to hold back the
tears I knew were about to come. I hugged my teddy bear right
under my chin, the way mommy had taught me so that Kally would
protect me from all the scary monsters.

"Mommy got hurt! The very bad man was trying to get
into my room but mommy wouldn't let him." My voice broke a little
and I had to stop so that she could understand what I was saying.
"He pushed mommy out the way so that he could get in, but she
followed him. And when he got close to me she wouldn't let him
touch me." The first tear of the many I was holding back finally
slid down my cheek. "The mean man got my little teddy bear lamp
and hit mommy with it on her head! When she fell down he pulled
me away and mommy never got up. The only thing I saw was red, a
big puddle of mommy's blood." I gripped Kally even tighter to
keep from seeing mommy's face on the floor.

"Oh my God." The police lady wrapped her arm around my
shoulders. I tried to look up at her face but all the tears in my
eyes made it impossible to see her.

"Arissa is not a bad girl! Arissa didn't hurt mommy,
because Arissa loves mommy very much!" By now the tears were
coming so fast and hard that all of my words were barely
understandable. The police lady pulled me onto her lap and turned
me toward her. I buried my face on her shoulder, the calming
smell of ocean that was probably her shampoo, calmed me down a
little.

"Oh, Arissa of course it wasn't your fault. You love
your mommy so much, there's no way little Arissa could hurt her
beloved mommy." She patted my back and hugged me and Kally until
I calmed down enough to stop from crying. She hummed a gentle
peaceful song that wrapped around me like a warm blanket. It
seemed kind of familiar…

Suddenly, I remembered. I drew back so that I could
look at the face. She gave me a sad smile and patted my back. My
eyes widened as I recalled the melody of the angels. A short gasp
escaped my lips. "That's mommy's song! That means that…you are
also…a guardian!"